Life In London – Chapter 4

The night grew colder, and the patrons of the restaurant slowly disappeared into the busy London streets. Daniel and Betty watched as people passed by the window. He found himself watching her as she smiled at different scenes taking place before them. The soft lighting shined off her skin and his breath slowed as time seemed to pass differently. How long he watched her he wasn't sure, but he knew that if he were allowed, he would never take his eyes off her again.

It may have been too soon to say anything about his newfound feelings, but the longer he spent this evening with her it was becoming clearer to him that what he was feeling was far deeper than mere friendship. How he could ever hope to express that was a mystery he would soon try to solve, but for now, the sight of her sipping her wine and smiling at him was enough.

Betty, meanwhile, was struggling. She had certainly tried her best to be "normal" this evening but found herself speaking in a way she didn't recognize. Sure, they had laughed and even settled into something resembling the way they acted together before her major decision had been revealed. Yet something still felt off for her. She couldn't shake this nervousness. Dare she say it? This almost felt like a date in some ways.

They were definitely still Daniel and Betty, but it was like they were completely new versions of themselves. Everything felt new and complicated. It felt like an opportunity to get to know one another all over again, but she could feel something different coming from Daniel. She could tell he was nervous too. He only played with things in his hands like that when he was nervous, a telltale sign. She knew him better than almost anyone, and she found it comforting that she could still read him. That was precisely the problem though. She had never had trouble reading all of him, and this was the first time she really felt like there was a part of him that he wasn't showing to her.

She reverted to a formal version of herself that she didn't break out very often. She only did it when talking with Mr. Dunne, or new clients, and sometimes she knew she did this on first dates. Why am I being so formal? Maybe it was because of how he acted when she left, or maybe it was because of how much had changed in such a short span of time, but Betty knew that she had changed. She wasn't the awkward braces wearing "chimichanga" that Mode had first met. For the first time in her life that she felt like her personal mantra actually described her. She was now an attractive, intelligent, businesswoman and she believed it to her core. And if she truly believed it, why did sitting in front of Daniel make her feel like she was her old teenage self, and that a man such as him wouldn't have looked twice at her? Why did this part of her have to come out now, of all times? She didn't like this part of herself. She was perhaps the most confident person that anyone could have the pleasure of meeting, but she didn't feel that way at the beginning of this dinner.

Never before had someone like her graced Daniel's presence, and yet at a moment such as this she felt like she was back to her first day at Mode, ramming into glass walls, but it was clear that so much time had passed and so much had happened between then and now that it was ridiculous to feel this way. So, she tried her best to shake it off. It wasn't until that moment that their hands had lingered that she felt herself begin to trust that what Daniel saw when he looked at her wasn't that young girl, but was in fact the confident, attractive, intelligent, businesswoman that they both knew she was. She felt a weight lift off herself.

Daniel watched as Betty relaxed. He didn't know if it was the wine or if it was what he said, but something started to release in her. He heard her giggle as she saw some drunken partiers pass by and begin laughing loudly as one of them slipped letting out a howl so loud that they both could hear it through the window. There she is, he thought.

Their plates were empty and so were their wine glasses when he suggested that they begin to head out. He called for the waiter and asked for the check. After paying he quickly stood up and came around to Betty's side of the table offering his hand to help her up from the booth. She giggled more as she found herself scooting trying to get out from behind the table.

"Careful there." He said softly, holding back his laughter.

"Thank you." She said, noting only to herself how warm his hand felt wrapped around hers.

They asked for their coats, and he caught another smirk from the hostess as she watched their earlier scene in reverse, and felt his breath catch as yet another moment of electricity occurred when he helped Betty put her coat back on. Even he knew he took a moment too long to admire the silkiness of her hair as he brushed it out from beneath the collar. The final touch was when he gently placed the beret back onto her head, and he hoped she didn't notice him biting his lip when she turned around quickly and looked directly into his eyes, thanking him again without saying the words.

Stepping out into the cold air was actually a welcome thought as he felt his cheeks growing warmer and warmer. Truly he still felt like a teenager admiring his crush, and he wondered when this silly boyish behavior would dissipate. He was a man goddammit. You can do this.

They began their walk back to the hotel, mostly in silence, but he knew he wasn't ready to say goodbye. Little did he know, neither was Betty.

She wasn't sure what was happening, but she couldn't deny that she had felt that spark too. Whatever it was, she did know that the evening had gone better than she expected it to. She wasn't about to let it end after just a couple of hours. They had spent countless sleepless evenings working together. "Short" was not the word she would use to describe their time spent together, and it was only natural that two friends such as them could find plenty to do on an evening in Londontown. Then the answer dawned on her.

"Daniel!" Betty suddenly shouted, grabbing his arm. He nearly choked because he honestly never thought he would hear that exciting sound of his name crossing her lips again.

"Betty!" he finally replied, though mere seconds had passed. He laughed, wondering what she was even excited about. Instead of replying, she slapped his arm! "OW! What was that for?"

"We forgot to order dessert!"

"Dessert? God Betty, I thought it was going to be something awful. Not that I don't deserve to be slapped…"

"Oh, come on! We HAVE to get dessert."

"Alright then. What do you want?"

She hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Anything!" she almost yelled, excited for two reasons. One, more time with Daniel. Two, dessert.

"That's not very specific." He laughed again.

"I know a great place that does cinnamon rolls twenty-four hours a day…"

"Lead the way then." He honestly couldn't care less where they went, so long as it was with her.

"Okay, come on!" she tugged at his arm and turned them around to start heading back down the way they came.

Fifteen minutes later and they were walking into a little bakery that simply oozed the scent of cinnamon out of its front door, and he was surprised by how excited he was at the prospect of yet another dimly lit place in which the two might be able to disappear into the crowd and simply be together, in whatever capacity that meant.

When Betty placed the giant cinnamon roll in front of him proudly pronouncing "Tada!" with what he could almost swear was a mini tap dance he finally felt like this just might work. Even if it was just as friends, he had missed this so much it was insane to him that he ever thought he may be able to live a life without her in it.

"I'm not sure where you think the two of us can put this, but I'll try my best." He said, taking a fork out and stabbing the thing to get his first bite. As soon as it met his tastebuds, he let out a moan and immediately took a second bite, and a third. He looked up to see Betty watching him as she took her bite of the pastry.

"Good right?" she asked.

"Oh yeah." He said, taking yet another forkful. "You were right, we needed dessert."

"I'm always right." She laughed.

"Yes, I know." He agreed, shyly looking into her eyes again, but hoping she would see the humor.

"So, Daniel…" Betty began.

"Yes?"

"Um, well, I just wondered… how long are you staying again?"

He stopped eating and took a big breath, looking down at the table. He knew he couldn't tell her the absolute truth, but he knew he had been vague when Betty had asked earlier in the day. He cleared his throat and began.

"I'm really not sure. I guess it all depends."

"Depends on what?" she asked, gently trying to push for details.

"A lot of things, I suppose. I mean I just got here, and I don't really have a plan. I just know I need a change. I need to figure out what I want, Betty."

"Well, what do you want Daniel?"

He would be lying if he said his heart didn't skip a beat when she asked that. Deep down in his soul he wanted to scream out 'You', but he knew that couldn't cross his lips, at least not yet, but he had to say something. She was sitting there looking at him with that slightly furrowed brow waiting for his reply.

"I… hm… I want… I want a lot of things, Betty. I know that I want to do something different. I've been so caught up in Mode and trying to be the man my father wanted me to be that I think I forgot to figure out who I am."

"Well, it's not like you didn't enjoy life." Betty reminded him, and he hung his head at the memory of the playboy he used to be. "But I know that you aren't that man anymore, and I believe in you. You're a good man."

"Thank you, Betty. I don't ever want to be the old Daniel again. You helped me become the man I am today. You know that right?"

"Oh, Daniel. You always were, you just didn't know it." She smiled at him gently, and to an onlooker it would seem as though the two were sharing a deep and loving look, but the two were entirely unaware of how they looked together.

"I do know that I'll be around for a little while at least, and if you don't mind, I'd like to see you again."

"Of course! I'll have to show you around London."

"I'd love that." His heart was jumping around in his chest. She wanted to spend more time with him. He was going to take every opportunity he could, he knew that for certain.

They settled into a comfortable silence as they finished their coffee and half of the giant dessert. He walked to the counter and asked for a box to place the leftovers in and leaned against the glass case while he waited. He looked around the room smiling to himself. The night had gone so well, he was almost afraid that it was a dream, and he was simply back in his hotel bedroom and not here with her. He saw her sneak one last bite before bringing the box back to their table. Classic Betty. They gathered their things and headed for the door.

Stepping back out onto the street, he felt her wrap her hand around the crook of his arm and he was happy to let her lean in close as they passed by people, keeping to their side of the street. It was starting to get late, and they had both had such a long day. Though he didn't want it to, it was probably best to let the night meet its natural end and figure out what to do the next day. The details of his stay in London didn't need to be figured out tonight.

Betty was lost in a small moment, thinking over the whole of the evening, or the whole of the day rather. She had not woken up that morning thinking that Daniel would be walking back into her life, but now that he was here, she felt calm in such a way that she hadn't let herself before. It was better than a phone call from home, or even a slice of New York pizza. This was like having home right there with her. Whatever this was, whatever it may lead to, she knew that Daniel was what had been missing. She was scared to admit it to herself, but having Daniel was everything to her. It was still confusing and even shocking to think that he was here in the flesh. His answers had been vague, and she avoided letting her thoughts travel to the 'why' of his appearance here and hints at staying a while. She was certainly NOT going to let herself believe that he was here solely for her. Surely, he was only stopping on his way to France. He was on his way to see Alexis and DJ, right? She was trying to rationalize it any way she could. There was no way he was here just for her, but the thought that he might be? Now that was something that only her soul would entertain because her rational mind could not cope with such a thought, even if Claire had already brought the idea up. No, this was not her doing. Claire was the one to suggest it, it didn't mean she had to believe it. At least not yet anyway.

"Can I walk you back to your apartment?" he asked, his voice breaking her out of her reverie, and he nearly slapped himself as he realized how that might sound to someone who didn't know their history. His eyes widened at the thought that she might take it that way too. "I mean, it is getting pretty dark out. I want to make sure you get home safe."

"Of course, Daniel." She smiled at him, happy to have someone to walk with. "You'll be able to get back to your hotel though, right?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine." He said and found himself placing his palm over her hand that still rested in the crook of his elbow. She couldn't help but press her forehead against his shoulder as he did that. They began the walk to her new 'flat' and the silence wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, it was perfect as they both became lost in their thoughts.

Daniel pressed the button to his elevator and thought of the last few moments from the evening. Betty had let him walk her up to her door, but neither was quite ready to go any further. They said their goodbyes, and she asked him to call her tomorrow so they could set up something within the next couple of days. The weekend was near, and he didn't want to take her away from her work. Plus, he had to figure some things out and make more concrete plans. He couldn't just "be around" for a while, they both knew that. This wasn't a vacation, but he couldn't exactly admit the real mission he was on. Hell, he wasn't entirely sure what his mission was now that they seemed to be on good terms again.

He hung his coat up in his closet and began to prepare for bed, and smiled thinking how quickly they had fallen back into their natural selves. The beginning of the dinner had been rocky, but he had faith that they could get past this hiccup and the pain that he had caused. He really did want to figure out what he wanted to do in terms of a career, but tonight he would be content to fall asleep to thoughts of Betty swirling in his mind.

Betty found herself in a similar situation not having answers to her questions that still pecked at her mind and heart but found herself falling into a deep sleep as she remembered that moment before their final goodbye that evening, the one in which she could have almost sworn they were about to kiss. It was too much to take in. She couldn't know how close that moment had been to becoming reality. Daniel knew the truth of how close he had been to losing control of himself, but she wasn't any wiser to his side of things. She simply found herself confused and racking her brain as to why she had almost kissed him. If things weren't confusing before they certainly were now. And upon waking in the morning, she knew she was in some kind of trouble because that was the first night she had dreamt of Daniel in that way, and she wasn't ready to admit to herself just how good that had felt.

Oh, crap.

Hello, my dears! It's been a while, hasn't it? Life has certainly been something these past two years. I won't even pretend to know how life has been for everyone, but I know that many of us have been through hard times during this crazy pandemic and quarantine/lockdown. As for me, life has taken some surprising turns. I learned some hard lessons, loved and lost as they say, and am now trying to move forward. So what better way to do that than to escape back into one of my favorite couples? I know that some of you have been waiting to see if I would ever write more, and I wasn't sure that I would. I lost my passion for writing for a while, and am just now trying to get back into it. I don't know what it is about Betty and Daniel that allows me to unlock my creative power, but if this is my way back to finding myself then I won't complain, I will simply follow my heart. This may or may not stick to my original formula, but I'm not going to set any more parameters. It will be what it will be, and I hope you'll join me as I try to give these characters an ending (or a beginning if you like). If you're new to my Detty stories, welcome. If you're tuning back in, I just wanted to say thank you, and I am sending all my love to you, dear reader.